The competition has been restructured in the off-season.  It now comprises twelve teams split into two sections with a maximum of two teams from the six competing clubs.  The clubs are Rosanna, Heidelberg, Box Hill, Yarrambat, Whittlesea and Strathallan.

Each team has nine players per round.  Each team plays all other teams in their section and the two top teams in each section play-off in the final and the remaining teams play-off for the Plate.

The season commenced on 3 February and two rounds have been completed.  A summary of the results achieved by Rosanna Red and Rosanna Green follows.

 

 

ROSANNA RED

Round 1 – Rosanna Red Vs Box Hill Brumbies at Whittlesea GC

Box Hill Brumbies was only able to field six players leaving Brian Sullivan, Keith Wilkinson and Allan Leung with walkovers, avoiding the heat at Whittlesea and also saving a lot in petrol.

The Reds won 5 of the 6 matches played, with solid wins for Russell Henshaw 6/4, Paul Warmington 5/4, Val Donnini 4/2, Dale Jordan 3/, Jono Pietsch 2/1 whilst James Fairweather missed the clean sweep with a 2 down loss.

A great start to season with an 8/1 win.

Round 2 – Rosanna Red Vs Yarrambat Black at Box Hill GC

Rosanna Red played Yarrambat Black, who beat last year’s champions Heidelberg Blue quite convincingly in Rnd 1.  The conditions at Box Hill were very good, albeit a tad windy.

The Reds went down in a tight contest 5/4.  Winners were Brian Sullivan 4/2, Robin Bliem 3/1 and Dale Jordan 1 up (1 hole unplayed).  Russell Henshaw and Antony D’Abaco both finished square (with holes unplayed) whilst Ken Young 2 down (with 2 holes unplayed), Paul Warmington 4/2, Jono Pietsch 5/4 and Allan Leung 5/4 all finished on the wrong side of the ledger.

A good fighting effort that could certainly have gone either way.

Round 3 – Rosanna Red VS Strathallan Storm

The Reds beat Strathallan Storm 6 matches to 3 for their second strong win.

Convincing wins were Keith Wilkinson 6&4, Jono Pietsch 5&4, Ken Young 4&3, Brian Sullivan 4&3 and Val Donnini 3&2.  In the more closely fought tussles, Dale Jordan prevailed 1 up, whilst Robin Bliem and Allan Leung were 2 down.  James Fairweather was soundly beaten 4&3.

Round 4 – Rosanna Red VS Heidelberg Blue

The Reds went down to Heidelberg Blue 5.5 matches to 3.5 and lost any chance of winning Section 2 to qualify for the Pennant final.

Good wins were achieved by Jono Pietsch 3&1, Dale Jordan 3&1 (unbeaten in his four matches) and Brian Sullivan 2&1.  In tight tussles, Antony D’Abaco finished square, James Fairweather lost 1 down in a see sawing match and Val Donnini came from five down to also lose 1 down.  Keith Wilkinson, Robin Bliem and Ken Young lost their matches.

Round 4 – Rosanna Red VS Whittlesea Gold

The Reds played Whittlesea Gold, needing to win to hold onto 3^rd place on the Section 2 ladder.

Many matches fluctuated significantly.  At one stage, the Reds looked to be in trouble but finally prevailed 6 matches to 3.

Great wins to Keith Wilkinson 7&6, Val Donnini 6&4 and Antony D’Abaco 4&3.  Robin Bliem and Allan Leung won close matches 2&1.  Jono Pietsch and Brian Sullivan fought back well from tough positions to finish all square.  Brian Sullivan therefore retained his unbeaten status (4 wins and an AS), congratulations to him and Dale Jordan who won 4 from 4 in Rnds 1 to 4 to also be undefeated.

Ken Young lost narrowly 2&1 whilst Paul Warmington left his best form at Yarrawonga.

The Reds now refresh for the Plate competition at Gardiner’s Run GC on 17 March.

ROSANNA GREEN

Round 1 – Rosanna Green Vs Yarrambat Gold at Whittlesea GC

Rosanna Green started the season disappointingly with a 2.5/6.5 loss to Yarrambat Gold who were able to adapt to the conditions at Whittlesea much better.  Solid performances for the Greens came from Ron Brentnall 4/3, Carmen Lardo 5/3 and Wayne Dunne who finished square.  Dom Luca was stiff to lose his match on the last hole 1 down and three other matches were decided in the last two holes. 

This was not the start the team was looking for.

Round 2 – Rosanna Green Vs Whittlesea Blue at Box Hill GC

A win was essential and our opponents were coming off a 7/2 win in Rnd 1.

The Green returned to form and claimed an 8/1 win over Whittlesea Blue who could only field eight players and had to give a walkover in one match.

The Greens had some big winners in near perfect conditions at Box Hill.  The winners were Carmen Lardo 10/8 (walkover), Ron Brentnall 6/4, Peter Dowling 6/4, Rob Franklin 5/4, Dom Luca 3/2, Rob McCabe 3/2, Chris Stewart 3/1 and Maurice Stabb 7/6.

Importantly, Yarrambat Gold lost to Heidelberg Blacks who are undefeated after two rounds.  The Green’s big win puts them hot on the Black’s heels and we’re half a match behind them in total matches won (12.5 Vs 12).  The Greens need to keep winning big, including our game against the Blacks at Yarrambat GC in Rnd 4. 

Our next opponent is Strathallan Sharks at Rosanna GC in Rnd 3.

Round 3 – Rosanna Green VS Strathallan Sharks

Rosanna Green recorded their second straight win, 6 matches to 3 over the Strathallan Sharks.  Peter Dowling led the scoring with 7&6, followed by Rob Franklin 4&3, Graham Penwarden 3&2, Carmen Lardo 3&1, Dom Luca 2&1 and Ron Brentnall 2&1.  The remaining matches were close but unfortunately Rob McCabe, Wayne Dunne and Brendan McCormack all went down.

Round 4 – Rosanna Green VS Heidelberg Black

Rosanna Green lost their chance to make it into the Pennant final when they lost to Heidelberg Black 3.5 to 5.5 matches.  The final score line does not reflect the closeness of the individual matches which could have gone either way.

Wayne Dunne and Brendan McCormack returned to winner’s list with a great wins 6&5 and 3&2 respectively.  Three matches went to the last hole with Graham Penwarden, Dom Luca and Peter Dowling all squaring their matches, while Rob Franklin went down on his 17^th hole 3&1 and Chris Stewart lost on his 16^th hole 3&2.

Round 5 – Rosanna Green VS Box Hill Mustangs

Rosanna Green won their match against Box Hill Mustangs 5 matches to 4 and finished 2^nd in Section 1.  The team conceded significant handicaps differences in 7 of their 9 matches, but came through with the win.

The winners for the Greens were Graham Penwarden 10&8, Dom Luca 4&3, Peter Dowling 3&2, Chris Stewart 3&1 and Rob McCabe 1 up.  Two of the other matches went down to the wire but resulted in narrow losses.

Like the Reds, the Greens will compete for the Plate at Gardiner’s Run GC on 17 March

Senior Handicap Pennant Final

The final round of the 2025 Senior Handicap Pennant season was held at Gardiner’s Run GC.  Rosanna’s teams were competing for the Plate (stableford format) as they both failed to make the final.  Rosanna Green finished second in their section and Rosanna Red finished third in their section.

ROSANNA RED

The Reds had a mixed performance in the Plate competition, with a total of 189pts from the six best team scores.  This was well short their playing partners Box Hill Mustangs with a competition winning score of 208pts.  It has been suggested that that Reds revved up the Mustangs’ performance.

The Gardiners Run course was in great condition, even after 29mm rain on Sunday, although the compacted bunkers were a tad challenging.  It should also be noted that due to the course rating, the daily handicaps for Gardiners Run White Course appeared very harsh (generally 4 lower for every player than Rosanna White), which biased the stableford scores low (for all competitors).  Robin Bliem and Russell Henshaw did fantastically well with 38 and 34 respectively (Russell played off 3 in his first time at the course).  Val Donnini and Brian Sullivan finished with serviceable 31s, but the Reds fell away then with Paul Warmington scoring 28 and James Fairweather/Allan Leung on 27 making up the last two scoring rounds.  Atony D’Abaco scored 25.  Thanks to Peter Hodgson who filled in to make up the Reds team of 9, but did not have his best day with 20pts.

ROSANNA GREEN

Rosanna Green never got going at Gardiners Run with all but one team member struggling on the greens.

Brendan McCormack led the team scoring with 35pts.  The rest of the team scored below 30pts, with Carmen Lardo and Peter Dowling next best with 29pts, Maurice Stabb and Dom Luca 28pts, Wayne Dunne and Ron Brentnall 27pts, Chris Stewart 26pts and Rob Franklin 24pts.  Our aggregate team score was only 179pts which left us in the middle of the Plate field.

It was a disappointing finish to the season, with the only consolation being the team that (just) beat the Greens to win Section 1, went on to win the Pennant.  Congratulations to Heidelberg Black.

SPECIAL AWARDS

Two players received special awards after play.  The first went to Brian Sullivan from Rosanna Red who undefeated (4 wins & 1 half) in Rnds 1 to 5.  The second went to Peter Dowling from Rosanna Green who played in Rnds 2 to 5 and won all four of his matches.  Both achievements were truly noteworthy.

LADDERS

Both teams stumbled at times in important games in Rnds 1 to 5 and came up short which resulted in them failing to reach the Pennant final.  However playing for the Plate provides both teams and all players with the chance to finish the season on a positive note.